A reported 70% of UK workers will be looking for a new job in 2024, with a fifth saying they feel burned out. This puts the pressure firmly on HR teams responsible for employee satisfaction and retention. HR leaders also need to continually upskill employees and improve productivity, which is increasingly challenging in the world of hybrid work. Moreover, assessing ‘employee satisfaction’ to spot workers who might be thinking of leaving involves multiple variables and is incredibly complex.
What HR teams need is data, and lots of it. With accurate, real-time data delivered by Digital Employee Experience (DEX) analytics, HR leaders can measure and quantify workers’ experiences when using technology, and can be sure new initiatives are underpinned by data and are measurable. Here are five areas where DEX analytics can arm HR teams with insight.
- Identifying worker wellbeing risks – Data from DEX analytics gives HR the power to spot when employees are working longer hours or working consistently out of hours. This could be at a team or individual employee level, and flags where additional resource or support is needed, where workload needs balancing across teams, and which employees would benefit from more time to focus on specific tasks. Knowing this gives HR teams the opportunity to intervene early and minimize the risk of burnout.
- Making hybrid work, work – Implementing hybrid working models effectively is another priority area where DEX analytics plays a role. By comparing utilization levels between remote and in-office employees, HR teams can gauge the impact of remote work. This could include determining whether remote work is contributing to higher levels of burnout, and how location influences productivity.
- Spotting digital friction – Another wellbeing risk that DEX highlights is digital friction – where workers have to exert unnecessary effort when using technology for work and are more likely to experience frustration and stress. Though digital friction may typically be the domain of IT teams, knowing where employees are having issues with technology allows HR to work alongside IT to reduce digital friction, improving worker wellbeing and giving more time to focus on crucial tasks.
- Detecting training needs – DEX also spots those employees who are taking longer to complete a task, or encountering challenges in using technology. HR teams can quickly pinpoint who needs training and why, and can identify team-wide training requirements. At the other end of the scale, DEX also highlights individuals using technology effectively – from completing a workflow at speed, to finding a workaround to further streamline processes. These ‘digital champions’ can advise on what the ‘gold standard’ processes are, and even coach colleagues as a professional development opportunity.
- Gauging engagement – Employee engagement is a significant area of interest for HR teams looking to assess worker satisfaction and identify where ‘quiet quitting’ might be taking place or where workers are unhappy. By using DEX analytics to view data on the use of technology, applications, processes and collaboration, HR teams can see which team members may not be adhering to expected work patterns, or stand out from others in the role. Using a data-led approach to highlight areas of concern empowers HR to appropriately review workflows and team morale so that issues can be resolved.
While HR teams might have historically shied away from using observation data as it risks communicating mistrust, when employed correctly, DEX analytics provides a significant benefit. Moreover, employees are open to it. Our recent research found that 55% of knowledge workers say they are open to DEX analytics being used to verify their productivity in a hybrid work setting, showing that when advantages are clearly communicated to workers, trust is not thrown into question.
Learn how Acumen can help HR professionals improve worker wellbeing and optimize the work environment here.